AUTOMATED FORMULATION &DATA MANAGEMENT

FOR NEW PRODUCTINNOVATION

MARK BAKER

24-04-2017

OUTLINE OF TALK• Unilever & why we are interested in Automated Formulation

• End to End Automated Formulation & Data Management

• Key Challenges

• The Geoff Robot

• The Materials Innovation Factory

ABOUT UNILEVER

“MAKECLEANLINESSCOMMONPLACE”

UNILEVER ISA GLOBAL COMPANY

EUROPE

● €13.6 BILLION TURNOVER

● 2.6% UNDERLYINGVOLUME GROWTH

● 26% OF GROUPTURNOVER

ASIA/AMET/RUB

● €22.4 BILLION TURNOVER

● 3.0% UNDERLYING VOLUME GROWTH

● 42% OF GROUP TURNOVER

THE AMERICAS

● €17.3 BILLION TURNOVER

● 0.4% UNDERLYINGVOLUME GROWTH

● 32% OF GROUPTURNOVER

2015 TURNOVER = €53.3BN

WE MAKE MANY OF THEWORLD’S FAVOURITEBRANDS

WHY WOULDUNILEVER USEAUTOMATION INR&D?

THE WORLD FACESNEW AND BIGGERCHALLENGES

MAKESUSTAINABLELIVINGCOMMONPLACE

A NEW WAY OFDOING BUSINESS

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY& SUSTAINABLELIVELIHOODS

SUSTAINABLY SOURCEDRAW MATERIALS

THE PLANET PROTECTEDFOR FUTURE GENERATIONS

ACCESS TO WATERSANITATION &HYGIENE FOR ALL

OUR VISIONTO DOUBLE THE SIZEOF OUR BUSINESS,WHILST REDUCINGOUR ENVIRONMENTALFOOTPRINT ANDINCREASING OUR POSITIVESOCIAL IMPACT

POSITIVESOCIALIMPACT

DOUBLE THEBUSINESS

REDUCEENVIRONMENTAL

FOOTPRINT

DRIVINGINNOVATION

BIGGER BETTER FASTERINNOVATIONTo meet the ambition of USLP, we must radically reformulate our entireHomecare and Personal Care portfolio by 2020, this is not achievable withtraditional bench science. Instead we use a mix of automation andcomputation to explore wider formulation spaces faster.

END TO END AUTOMATION& DATA MANAGEMENT

‘END TO END’ AUTOMATION & HIGH THROUGHPUT

backbone hydration density

Vis

cosi

tyP

as-

1

Port Sunlight / MIF/ Daresbury

Port Sunlight

UoL -Micro

Biorefinery

UoL - UMPF

Partners to Win

Co-development

withCommercial

suppliers

Automation and Data/Computation used across projectsto enable product discovery, understanding andinnovation which would be difficult or impossible withconventional methods.

FLOW

• Registration of Materials, Lots, Formulations(with processing) and Substrates

‘HIGH THROUGHPUT OPERATING SYSTEM’

EMS

• Experiment configuration with meta data captureHarmony/Overlord

• ‘Common Interface between instruments and EMS

Pipeline Pilot

• Experiment Validation, Analysis andReporting

DecideHuman

Intellect &Intelligent

DoE

Data Mining/Modelling

Interpret& Refine

HumanIntellect &Computer

Aided Analysis

AutomatedReporting

AutomatedAnalysis

DatabaseStorage

Catalogue Materials

RecordDetails

DatabaseStorage

ConfigureMeasurementsRecord Details

Database Storage

Stability

MeasureRun Experiment

Screening

CreateFormulation

sRecordDetails

DatabaseStorage

HTOS In Practice

MakeRun

ExperimentDatabaseStorage

KEY CHALLENGES

• Viscous liquids with entrapped air

• Bridging powders

• Powders

• Hot Liquids

• Suspensions

DIVERSE RAW MATERIAL PALLETTE

• StickyPowders

DIVERSE PRODUCT PORTFOLIO

… from Domestos to Dove Shampoo … Persil Laundry Liquid & ComfortFabric Conditioner

DIVERSE USER NEEDS

• Hot Processing

• pH Measurement& Goal seeking

• ThicknessMeasurement& Goal seeking

• Homogenisation

• Foam detection• PreciseDosingControl

• Temperature control

• Mixing LiquidProducts

GEOFFAUTOMATEDFORMULATIONROBOT

AUTOMATED FORMULATION – ‘GEOFF’ ROBOT

Powders

24 x 800 gBatches per run

4 xFormulation

Stations

Temp Control

Modularity andredundancy

pH adjustment Viscosityadjustment

FormulationPot Input &

Output

ViscousLiquids

HotLiquids

Suspensions Standardised softwarefor ingredients & process

Foamdetection

Clean Mixersin Place

Homogeniser

Configurablemixers

Gravimetricdispensing

Formulationin Final Pot

AUTOMATED FORMULATION – POWDERS

PowderModule

RemovablePowderHopper

Powder Boat

Hot Liquidand

SuspensionDispensing

ViscousDispensing Small

VolumePressure

Dispensing

AUTOMATED FORMULATION – LIQUIDS

Removal ofmodule

Capping and Decapping

AUTOMATED FORMULATION – GEOFF

MATERIALS INNOVATIONFACTORY

MATERIALS INNOVATION FACTORY

• A world’s leading centre for Computer Aided Materials Science, focusingon materials chemistry, soft solids and complex mixtures.

• 9 Dedicated Academics & 12 Technical support staff for the Open AccessArea (OAA)

• OAA operates on a credits system; credits available to 3rd parties as wellas Uni. Of Liverpool & Unilever to create a sustainable business model

• OAA contains leading edge automation comprising specifically purchasedkit & Unilever donated kit.

SPRING2017

Leading edgeautomation

InformaticsProviders

IntegrationSpecialists

PARTNERING

Partners

Materials Innovation Factory

Suppliers

THANK YOU – ANYQUESTIONS?

Thank you

Any Questions?AcknowledgementsLabman Automation LtdRegional Growth Fund & BISUnilever

Mark AutyMark NewmanAndy Mitchell